Study Finds Many Stroke Survivors Begin Driving Again without Test

A stroke can have serious health consequences, some of which can impair a person’s motor and other abilities. Some of those effects could involve an impaired ability to operate a motor vehicle. According to new research however, more than 50% of survivors who have suffered the stroke, continue to drive again without any test or review of their driving skills to ensure that their driving skills are unaffected.

The research was conducted by scientists at the Medical University of South Carolina. They analyzed the driving skills of more than 162 persons who had survived a stroke. They found that more than half of these stroke survivors resumed driving after a stroke, and approximately 59% of them returned to driving within one month after suffering the stroke. The percentage of stroke survivors, who admitted to receiving any formal driving review before being allowed to drive again, was less than 6%.

According to the researchers, very often, stroke patients are most interested in when they can get back to driving after they have recovered. However, few of them will actually bother to go out and get a formal evaluation of their driving abilities done.

Many persons, who have suffered a stroke and have no problem walking or seeing, believe that their driving skills are not impacted. They believe that they can drive and perform other activities safely. However, these persons could suffer from slower reflexes, impacted coordination and other consequences that could increase their risk of being involved in an accident.

Los Angeles car accident lawyers believe that the problem lies in the fact that most states have not treated impaired driving abilities after a serious medical condition seriously enough, and do not require any kind of testing or driving evaluation after a person has suffered a stroke.